


Chances

by oldmoviewatcher



Series: The Jack Sloane Saga [1]
Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, adoption story arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 17:27:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16958379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oldmoviewatcher/pseuds/oldmoviewatcher
Summary: Leroy Jethro Gibbs was not always the man everyone at NCIS knows him as.  There are reasons for his rules, especially when they involve mistakes he makes in his twenties.





	Chances

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally post a year ago on ff.net, but I figured I'd share it here.

At twenty- three, a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs sits with his fiancee on the couch watching the news.  
"It's awful," The red head beside him murmurs.  
"What?" Gibbs asks zoning out.  
"This stuff in the Middle East! How could someone kill so many people?"  
Gibbs swallows remembering what he needs to talk about. Lowering the volume on the TV, Gibbs states, "Shannon, I need to tell you something."  
Worried, Shannon gives her fiancee her full attention.  
"I reupped," He begins. "My CO wants me to go overseas."  
"Wants you or orders you?" Shannon asks evenly not even wanting to address the man's reenlisting.  
"Orders," Gibbs answers. "I leave in three months."  
Angry, Shannon starts crying how unfair the situation is.  
"I know, but they need me."  
"To what? Kill more people?"  
"Shannon," Gibbs begins.  
"Don't 'Shannon' me, Leroy Jethro Gibbs! You can't just leave again! We were supposed to have over a year before you left again."  
"Yeah, well the Marine Corp has other plans."  
"But you could die," Shannon states standing up and pacing. Gibbs watches as his fiancee rants about his stories from Basic and the stories on the news.  
"Look at your friend who died!" The red head points out trying to find a way to keep him in the States.  
"That's what I signed up for," Gibbs remarks. The glare in Shannon's eyes tells him he says the wrong thing.  
"I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore," Shannon states leaving the apartment.  
"Shannon!" Gibbs calls out as he begins to follow her out the door where she tells him to leave her alone. He waits an hour for her to come back before picking up his car keys. Driving near a bar down the street from his apartment, Leroy Jethro Gibbs decides to drink his cares away. Oblivious to all other people around him, Gibbs drinks for about an hour until he is pretty sure he is numb.  
"This seat taken?" A blonde asks as Gibbs stares blankly at his glass. No matter how many drinks he has, he cannot stop thinking about Shannon. He mumbles a no, and watches the woman slide onto the bar stool beside him.  
"Girlfriend leave you?" The woman asks. Gibbs shakes his head, "Fiancee."  
The blonde simply nods knowing her observational skills are getting better despite what her chauvinistic professor tells her.  
"That's rough," She states.  
"Yep," Gibbs answers as he drinks the last of the bourbon in his glass. Restarting the conversation, the blonde introduces herself.  
"Jackie."  
Deciding there is no harm in giving his name, Gibbs replies, "Jethro."  
Jackie's eyebrows shoot up suspecting the name is fake. Spying a dart board in the corner of the bar, Jackie asks the bartender for the darts.  
"Best two out of three at darts, and the loser has to buy the next round," Jackie states bored by their conversation. Having nothing better to do, Gibbs agrees.  
Turning the darts game into a drinking game after the first round, the two find themselves playing until Last Call. Remembering she has no ride, Jackie digs in her pockets for change to call for a cab.  
"I got my car outside. Let me drive you home," Gibbs offers. Playing with one of the darts in her hand, the blonde agrees. She gets in the man's car and gives him the directions back to her apartment. When he parks, she smiles.  
"Thanks," She says before kissing him on what she realizes quickly is not his cheek. Shocked that Gibbs turns his head just as she goes to kiss him, she is equally shocked when he kisses her back. With all lack of caution, the pair find themselves in her apartment ten minutes later. The next morning, Jackie wakes up with a pounding headache and a man in her bed. Looking at the clock on her bedside table, the blonde suddenly remembers she has an exam and quickly leaves the man she can barely recall the name of asleep in her bed with a note to lock up once he's up.  
The slam of a door wakes Gibbs up from his sleep. Aware that he is not in his apartment, Gibbs grabs his clothes, changes, and heads home. Entering his apartment, Gibbs recalls Shannon walking out the door. Scrubbing his face with his hand, Gibbs picks up his phone and dials Shannon's number. No answer. After an hour of torturing himself over his decisions, he hears a knock on his door. Opening his door, Gibbs finds Shannon standing in front of him.  
"I'm sorry," She states. Gibbs lets his finacee inside the apartment as they decide to work through any problems they may have. A month later, the couple decides to elope and spends their wedding day walking through the park before going up to Stillwater to see their families. As they walk through the park, Gibbs does a double take when he sees a blonde walk by. He makes contact with her, each trying to figure out how they know each other. The blonde shakes her head she hears the red head tease, "Old girlfriend?"  
Almost immediately, the blonde realizes who the man is, but decides greeting a one night stand is a terrible idea. Then, she remembers what is in the bag in her hand and quickly heads toward her apartment. Usually the short walk from her apartment to the pharmacy is calming. However, her mind is not clear until she takes the pregnancy test out of the box once she is in her apartment bathroom.  
Crumbling to the ground, Jackie nearly hyperventilates when the test is positive. Knowing she cannot provide a good home for her future child, Jackie decides that giving the child up is the best possible solution.  
Eight months later, Jackie lets the nurses take her newborn daughter, knowing she'll never see her again. Before she leaves, the nurse asks, "Did you have a name for her?"  
Smiling, Jackie answers, "Ellie."

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who called the adoption arc a year ago?! I was LITERALLY on the edge of my seat. And that forehead kiss? Yes, please!


End file.
